I'm Moving Again - May 27

So yes I am getting transferred again. I found out this morning that
I will be a Sister Training Leader again! I missed being one but I
have had alot of fun not being one and serving with the missionaries
that I have. I have a guess as to where I am going mainly based upon
what I have managed to bribe out of the Assistants....Yes I bribed
them to tell us if either of us were getting transferred and then I
bribed them to see if I was going to the zone that I thought I
was....and if I am going where I think I am going I will be there for
awhile because my companion will be going home next transfer.
Anyways this last week has been crazy. I feel like we have been
running around like chickens with our head cut off because we have
been running around everywhere, and trying to finish the map books for
us and the elders....which we did because the zone leaders are getting
double transferred out of the area....poor poor 3rd ward they don't
take to strangers all that well.

Sister Brady

So last week we went to a Gator farm...

 

Bars, break ins, and baptisms - May 19

So this week has been an interesting one. On Wednesday we did a
service project in North Baton Rouge at the African American History
Museum. Sis Baird planted cotton and loved it, while I painted on the
names of the states onto a very disproportionate map (New Mexico was
about the same size as Texas). Later we had exchanges so I went to 2nd
ward and had fun with the sister training leader from Hawaii. Friday
for district meeting we went to the temple, which was sooo nice. I saw
a few members from the Covington ward there and one of the temple
workers there is the service missionary that does apartment checks for
the Denham Springs/Covington missionaries.

Saturday was interesting. So there is a member (one of many) who when
they sign up to feed us they take us out to eat. The elders chose
where we were going to eat, and we told the member. Well we show up
and we don't see the elders but we see the member and so we sit in our
car for a bit and then follow her in. Well what we didn't know is that
one side is a bar and the other side is the restaurant. Well each of
the companionships walks into the bar, and all but one just right back
out. The zone leaders decided just to walk right on through. Ya that
was awkward.

Now onto the juicy part of this last week. So yesterday we had to plan
a baptism in an hour for a family that the elders’ were working with.
Lucky for all of us we were at our apartment finishing up studies,
because the ward mission leader had the white clothes at his house. So
we drop what we are doing and head over calling all the members in
that family that we can. Well no one answers so we get there and are
banging on the door, ringing the doorbell over and over again with no
answer. So we get the bright idea to see if the door is unlocked. So
we are freaking out praying that they don’t have an alarm system while
talking to the elders who are thinking these through a little bit more
then we are. So we walk in, no alarms go off and so we wait hoping
someone is home. Luckily the ward mission leader told the elders that
they were upstairs in his house, so we hurry up trying to not make any
noise. We start checking the rooms, we see it grab it and go. All
while freaking out that we had just broken into the ward mission
leader’s house! But hey the baptism went well; I talked about the Holy
Ghost and it all worked out. All of us who were heavily involved in
planning it were just grateful that we were able to pull it off that
fast.

So that is my week in a nutshell.

Sister Brady

I will write y'all even though I talked to you yesterday. - May 11

So this last week has been crazy because we have been updating our area map book, which hasn't been done in about three years or so. It is just so much to do because no one kept it up or passed on the files. So we had to start from scratch...which is a lot of work for two sisters.

Also on Saturday I found out that it was a good thing that I learned how to unclog vacuums before the mission. We spent an hour on Saturday helping a less active sister unclog her vacuums that had been clogged by dog hair thicker then my hair. It was an adventure to say the least. We were doing that while two of the elders were cleaning up the plastic pots that one of her dogs chewed to pieces.

Also I may have problems eating french toast when I get home. We had a member who bless his heart tried, but he didn't flip them so one side was totally raw egg :/ oh and to make things better for desert he made us bread pudding that looked more like bread soup. Apparently for the three things of bread pudding he made he used 14 cans of evaporated milk. All I can say is his heart was in the right place and he will most definately be blessed for all that he does for the missionaries. On the plus side he does make really good bread. It is so good that he makes a loaf each week just for the sacrament.

Today we've just left our zone preparation day, It was a lot of fun. We helped the zone leaders make the stuff for fajitas. We played volleyball and the elders played basketball (because in this mission we aren't allowed to play basketball with the elders.) It was a lot of fun.

Well y'all I hope that you have a good week.

Sister Brady

 

 

Let the miracles pour down. - May 4

So this last Tuesday Gladys Knight and her SUV choir came to Baton Rouge for two performances. Sis Baird and I were able to go to both. It was awesome. They were bold in talking to the African American people there in away that us little white missionaries would never be able to...no matter how black we feel/act. Well as part of the program they had referral cards for a package that had a copy of the Book of Mormon, a Restoration DVD, and a sampler CD. In the ward I am in we received 9 referrals and Sis Baird and I contacted every single one of them. It was awesome! We had one that isn't in our area but because she put her P.O. Box the office elders thought she was in our area. Nope, but we contacted her and she seemed super interested. Another lady told us that after seeing that performance she decided that she wanted to join the question. She knows that in order to do that she needs to join the church and it gets even better, she is willing to relocate if she finds that the church is where God wants her to be! There are so many miracles pouring down from heaven because of that performance.

 

Also Sis Baird is learning just how graceful I am...hurt my ankle twice in two days. Stupid uneven Louisiana ground.  But I am fine, I can walk and nothing is broken.

 

Oh we fed the elders yesterday....that was an adventure. We made spaghetti and come to find out one of them doesn't like spaghetti. The prime is what one of the elders said when he first got it:

"Sis Brady what is in my spaghetti?"

"Meat."

"Ya, but what kind?"

"Ground pork." (I couldn't find any Italian sausage so I used ground pork and Italian seasoning.)

"Hmm never heard of that before"

Well come to find out the elder that doesn't like spaghetti is alright with mine because I don't use hamburger, eggs, pork chops, and ribs. ( He served in Covington once upon a time, and there is a less active family that uses those things in their spaghetti.) I also made applesauce chocolate chip cookies, and just did the easy way with the spice cake mix. The elders liked it, which was a huge relief to me because I was stressing that they wouldn't. It was fun though eating on our front porch.The elders that I serve around are awesome, and I am super grateful that I am able to serve around them...and I also get to serve in the same ward that President and Sister Wall are assigned. It is a lot of fun, and really nice when you have an investigator at church and the mission president's wife is there to help them feel welcomed. (Because Sis Wall is one of the most welcoming people that I know.)

 

But anyways I am loving it here a bit more each week.

 

Love y'all and hope you have an awesome week!

Sister Brady

 

Sister Baird, Sister Hill, Sister Garfield and I after service! We had mighty dirty hands!

 

We had to move a couch from one house down the street to another so while Sister Brady sat on the couch Elder Mapa and I sat on the back holding it in!! (Elder Adkins was the one taking the pictures)

 

 

 

Soooooo....uhhh I'm not in Gonzales anymore. - April 28

So this week was crazy. Tuesday district meeting, Wednseday zone conference in Baton Rouge and got in an accident, Thursday I got emergency transferred out, Friday getting to know the area and a second district meeting...oh and played volleyball, Saturday we did a lot of service....we had 9.5 hours a peice. Church on Sunday.

 

I am fine, I wasn't hurt in the accident. The letter I am sending dad this week will have the run down of what happened and how it happened. But because my companion is at fault she can't drive anymore so they emergecny trasnsferred me out and sent another sister in, and I took her spot. I am now in Prairieville....the sister area closest to President Wall. In my district though we also have the Assistants to the President and the Zone Leaders. I think that thus far this is one of my favorite district.

 

But I promise that I am fine....if you want pictures of what happened let me know...

Oh one of the office elders came up with a joke to describe what happened,

A Ford Fusion ran into a Ford Focus and then they had a Fiesta....the other sisters didn't get that joke...oh car humor.

 

Anyways I am adjusting and adapting to all the changes that I have been going through. It's been hard but I will survive.

Oh and mom you should be getting a card from me somtime this week.

 

Well love y'all.

Sister Brady

 

Gonzales Louisiana and I am half done :/ - April 21

Hey so I am now not in the New Orleans Stake...I am in the Baton Rouge stake. Which for me is a big difference. Heavenly Father really does know me because I am in a suburb of Baton Rouge, like I was in Covington. One of the biggest differences is that I am now covering two wards instead of one, which means that we have six hours of church on Sundays. I kind of chuckle at that because in my entry interview President Wall told me that the are I was going to I would cover two wards...which didn't happen until half way through my mission. 

 

It has been an adjustment but I am trying to not look back and compare the two areas all that much. It has been interesting since transfers, because I knew that I wasn't going to stay in the stake. I thought I was either going to come to Baton Rouge or I was going to be in Hammond. I wasn't as certain on the latter though. 

 

So here is my new address so that I can actually receive mail and not have to wait until zone stuff...or if the office elders ever feel like coming down this way. 

More about the are that I am serving. One thing is that one of the elders serving here I came out with, one I served in Covington with, another I served in the same zone with for more then half of the time I have been out, and one I went to high school with ( I was a senior when he was a sophmore). My companion Sister Lucherini and I both went to Utah State, have the same major just different emphasis, and are trying super hard to get into the teaching program when we get home...oh and one of the things keeping us from getting in is math. She is from Logan. So ya I cover two wards, both of which loaded us up with candy yesterday. (If that is part of the Easter package, just send it anyway what we don't eat we can pawn it off onto the elders)

 

It has been hard leaving the only area that I have ever had. The first couple days it felt like I was just on exchanges, but about Sunday it sunk in that Covington is not my area anymore, and that the new elders and the new sister better not drop the ball or else they will have a mob of angry missionaries after them ( I am not the only one). It is good though that I am not there anymore because that ward needs to progress and with the things that I know it wouldn't help the ward at all. 

Well y'all I love ya and hope you have an awesome week. 

Sister Brady

 

Wasn't Conference Great - April 6

Wasn't conference great? Conference really is a missionary's Christmas...which means we get it twice a year! Things have been slow but we are trying to move it along the best we can. It doesn't help that next week is transfers, which we know means don't send me anything to the Covington address until you hear from me, which also means send things to the mission office. I may end up sending some stuff home. My Ipod may be included so that you can take off the Young Womens songs (I don't know why I even put them on because I can't stand their voices) but if I do will you put on some Lindsey Stirling. We heard yesterday that she is coming to New Orleans, but us missionaries won't be able to go. Oh well that is life.

S

O her are some pictures that I have taken in the last week. The first two are some of the pictures of the Azaleas down here. We noticed that they were everywhere but didn't know what they were called until a member told us. The purpleish ones look fake to us. I like the orange, red,white, and light pink ones the most. The last two are Sis Pike and I with a Angry Owls scene that one of our less active sisters daughter made us. The last one is with her.

Well I think that will be all for this week folks.
 

Love y'all and hope you have a good week.

Sister Brady

In one word what does Easter mean to you? - April 15

On Sunday the ward did an Easter devotional and it got me thinking, in one word what does Easter mean to me. Well the word is start. Because for the past five and half years my life has been filled with having to start over again. Thing is that it isn't going to stop being filled with it. It has helped me adjust and transition from going from one new to another. Which is going to be helpful because I am going through change yet again. I found out yesterday that I will be leaving the Covington Ward, which is a big change for me because this ward is all that I know on the mission. I know it is going to be hard but I can do it. And I know the main reason that I can do it is because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, that I can just pick up and start again, start another chapter, or sub chapter, and not worry about what is going to happen next. I am so thankful for that.

 

It has been so hard for me to say goodbye to so many people that I love. But that is thing about new beginnings you get to meet more people and love more people. Good thing is though a lot of things are going to be happening this transfer because the mission is in short supply of Spanish elders, so most of the Spanish elders we know are getting transferred.

 

Well y'all hope you have a good Easter and remember what it is actually about.

Love y'all and hope y'all have a good week.

 

Love

Sister Brady

This picture should explain it all - March 31

There is a myth that at a certain point in a missionary's service people just seem to forget about them and stop writing them....IT IS NOT A MYTH IT IS A SAD FACT! I say this because I have felt it *coughcoughdadandashtoncoughcough* Hopefully this mormonad gives a pit more pathos to what I say.

 

Anyways, this week has been a bit slower ok actually a lot slower lessons wise then previous weeks, but we did do better then last week and we did a lot of service. Which hasn't happened quite a bit. Oh and we got news that one of the members that has us over quite a bit is moving to California this next month, which makes me sad and happy. Sad because they are leaving the ward and happy because now they will be closer when I get back so I can go visit them...there two daughters are like little sisters to me (don't worry Pi and #4 you aren't being replaced) But anyways it is hard. We are hoping that things pick up a bit more and that we will be able to get one of our investigators to commit to a date and that they will actually have time to see us this week (one just got done with her maturnity leave and is going back to work while the other one we are trying to figure out when now works with her now that her son is working nights.) Well that is life of a missionary, crazy and just plain hard sometimes but in the end it is all worth it. Because as we know that things that are hard are worth it in the end because you had to work hard for what you have.

Anyways y'all, love ya much. Hope you have an awesome week and that I hear from one of y'all soon.

Sister Brady

Spiritual Recharge Up The Wazoo - March 24

This weekend was awesome....Mainly Saturday. We woke up early to go to the 9am session at the temple. After which we had about an hour to go get lunch before we had another meeting at the Baton Rouge Stake Center. This meeting wasn't any ordinary missionary meeting because we had Elder Kopischke of the Seventy there. It was awesome! He gave us so much insight as to how do go about executing the goals that have been made because of the Elder Perkins visit in January and then the awesome meeting we had in February with Elder Blouth. It was nice to not be given any huge new information for goals but to get help with what we have already been given. Honestly I was expecting him to take the whole time telling us what we need to do to further the work, but what ended up happening is he spoke a little bit and gave us most of the time to ask questions to help us reach the goals we have. It was quite an experience. Well after that meeting we went down to Metairie to the New Orleans Stake Center where we as missionaries were invited to attend a meeting that Elder Kopischke had with ward and stake council members. It was awesome, with it I feel like a lot of things are going to be changing with how things are done. I feel so blessed to be able to have the opportunity to be able to hear and learn as much as I did from Elder Kopischke.
 

Besides that everything is going good. We are working on talking to more people and helping the new Relief Society Presidency come to know each of the sisters in the ward, which is good because I know quite a few of them from being her for 7 1/2 months. It is funny because whenever the members see my companion with someone else they freak out and think that I got transferred when in reality I am on an exchange. Which reminds me of something cool that happened while I was on an exchange this week. The sisters that I was in there area for a day found a lady that is Haitian, and these sisters are Spanish sisters and they don't know French or  Creole. Well not from where they are there is a companionship where one of the elders from Africa knows French and the other one is from Haiti and speaks Creole (he knows French but hates it). So they had them come up and come teach this lady and her family. That lesson was one of the coolest lessons I have been apart of. She had heard about the church before and wanted to know more about Joseph Smith. The Spirit was so strong in that lesson, and I understand almost all of it. At the end though she gave the Haitian elder and entire jar of Haitian bullion cube things, and he gave each of us one. Gah, I really feel like by being a Sister Training Leader I am more blessed and get to see more of the miracles that the missionaries I serve have happen to them.

 

Well y'all I hope that you have an awesome week and know that I love y'all.

Sister Brady